Vlogging: Video Weblogs - WebReference Update - 030306

WebReference Update: March 6, 2003

This week we've got a special treat for you, a story on vlogging,
or video weblogs. Guest author Andrew Beach, founding Partner and
Director of Convergent Media for Last Exit LLC, writes about the
new blogging phenomenon.

E-mail, web browsing, and streaming audio and video are all
examples of applications that utilize the network of the Internet
to function. As these various technologies connected to the
Internet blossom, it only makes sense that we would see some
crossover. This much talked about convergence of technologies,
where old problems find new solutions, takes shape in many forms.
Video on demand, Internet radio stations, and Voice over IP
(VoIP) are all examples of convergent media and what it can mean
for consumers.

A relatively recent phenomena in the Internet community are
weblogs, or blogs as they are commonly referred to. Though some
weblogs date back as early as the mid 1990s, their popularity
didn't truly take off until 2001. Simply put, a weblog is
a website, which acts as an online repository for the writer's
thoughts; typically in chronological order, so the latest entries
are at the top of the page.

Initially those who understood HTML updated weblogs manually.
Once technologies appeared that allowed a wider audience to
publish blogs automatically, interest in them rapidly took off.
Companies such as Blogger and Movable Type provide solutions
that make adding new entries to an online journal a simple task,
prompting some to update several times throughout a given day.
There are now many hundreds of personal weblogs available,
covering a variety of topics. As a medium, blogs have started
down a convergence path; looking to incorporate new technologies
into these online journals.

In a bid to present a richer story, many bloggers (one who blogs,
of course) began posting photographs in addition to their entries.
Almost overnight, photo-only weblogs began appearing, where few
words would ever be posted; an entire story told through
photographs. An even more convergent twist came up last year with
the long awaited release of Danger's Hiptop, sold through T-Mobile
as the Sidekick. This phone/camera/web device suddenly allowed
bloggers to take their show on the road, no need to wait until
you've gotten home to share an amazing scene or funny aside.
The next technological leap for weblogs was audio.

Again, this was a situation where the more technically inclined
led the way; adding posts of digitized audio clips either recorded
directly onto a computer or digitized from an analog source. New
services such as Audblog have now made it possible to make audio
weblogging as easy as leaving a voice mail, literally. With
Audblog, a service from San Francisco based ListenLabs, once you
have set up an account, all you have to do in order to add an
audio message to your weblog is to dial a phone number, enter your
PIN number, and at the tone, leave a message. A time-stamped MP3
version of the message is made available in your assigned blog
immediately. Audio blogging has met with mixed reviews so far,
but it will no doubt catch on. Even before audio has become a
full-blown component of weblogging, video is already being
experimented with, but it may face the biggest battle to achieve
acceptance.

Jeff Jarvis is considered by most to be the first person to try
video blogging on a regular basis ( http://buzzmachine.com/ ).
He and other bloggers like Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit
( http://www.instapundit.com ) have been carrying on a
discussion of the merits of video blogging or "vlogging" for the
past several months. Jeff records himself giving commentary, then
digitizes the video and posts it. Due to the nature of how he
records his entries (speaking directly to the camera) Jeff's
postings take on the same quality as a news commentator.

In Jeff's view of a "vlogging" world, everyone would post their
own video commentary, a mixture of information, local news,
viewpoints, and entertainment and we would be able to pick and
choose topics we wanted to view from a wide range of web pages.
Even he admits it is still a technology in its infancy:

"I'm still trying to find the right voice for these things. I
know that right now, they're either embarrassing (my sacrifice
for my art) or merely imitations of bad TV. But I'm starting to
feel comfortable with the form." - Jeff Jarvis 12-2002.http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2002_12.html

However, critics of Jeff have more fundamental issues with video
blogging on the whole. Brad Wardell of http://www.joeuser.com
posted commentary on his weblog disagreeing with the concept of
vlogging going mainstream. His argument is that video is an
inefficient medium for sharing data and commentary. That it is
difficult to quote commentary from (he lists this as a key
necessity), and that video corrupts the message, making it harder
to concentrate on what is being communicated. While Brad makes a
good point, I think he and Jeff are missing the potential and
therefore point of a video weblog.

Video logs shouldn't be viewed as a replacement to words, pictures
or audio-only postings - they should be another tool available to
the author. Unlike television or print publications, the Internet
will allow our multimedia commentary to live side by side with
text. Each will be able to take turns supporting the views
expressed in the other medium. Furthermore, video need not be
held to just a commentary situation; the portability of most
consumer-level video camera technology means that anyone wanting
to can express themselves in documentary or narrative style film
on a daily basis and post for viewer consumption.

The other major criticism of vlogging is the speed and ease of
publishing new entries. Technology already exists that would
make this easier, it just has to be adapted to the task. Digital
still cameras and consumer mini-DVs that record directly as a
digital file immediately cut out the step of needing editing
software or capturing the video to computer. Webcams can also be
co-opted for recording directly as a digital file, but the quality
of the video is often not very good and it is not nearly as
portable a solution. Bluetooth, the newest wireless protocol,
would further speed up the ability to share files when paired
with a phone that would support it.

The Sony DCR-PC120BT is one such Bluetooth device. Linking the
camcorder to a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone (such as a Sony
Ericsson t68i), allows the unit to send and receive emails with
MPEG video or still attachments. Both Nokia and Sony Ericsson are
working on new cell phone technology with small built-in digital
cameras. Once such products are on the market, vloggers will have
an all in one device that allows them to post directly to their
website.

From the standpoint of the backend technology, a company needs
to make it as easy to share video quickly as Audblog makes it to
share audio. This will improve interest in vlogging just as
methods for automating the publishing of regular weblogs have
increased their popularity.

As vlogging technologies become automated and easier to use
more people will begin utilizing them. Just as happened with
traditional blogs, a sense of community will develop within this
group. As this community develops, they will become the voice
that helps guide how vlogs expand and find even more distinctive
uses.

Video weblogs do not need to be seen as a replacement to the
weblogging tools that have come before, merely a new adaptation.
They will no doubt reach at least a certain level of mainstream
acceptance and use. As the Internet itself develops and we find
other methods for accessing information regularly rather than
sitting at a computer, they may gain even a greater dominance.
The nature of the blogging community has always been one of
independence and video serves to help expand that spirit of
individualism even further.

About the author. The Internet and film have long been passions
of Andrew Beach, leading to his collaboration on short films
with international writers and to the development of new ways to
converge video with the computer.

Now as a Founding Partner and Director of Convergent Media for
Last Exit LLC < http://www.lastexit.tv >, in New York City,
Andrew continues to apply his experience to compelling moving
image work and to innovative content delivery systems.